


Lost on Aisle 4

by DawnsEternalLight



Series: Dick and Dami Week 2019 [7]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman and Robin (Comics)
Genre: Damian's costco adventure, Fluff, Gen, No editing we die like mne, Seperation, it all started with a book, lost in costco, shopping adventure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 11:34:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18468115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnsEternalLight/pseuds/DawnsEternalLight
Summary: Damian did not think this would happen to him, ever. He did not think he could possibly lose Grayson like this. Thankfully, his brother can always find him. Even in the maze that is Costco.





	Lost on Aisle 4

**Author's Note:**

> For Dick and Dami Week 2019: Separation/Reunion 
> 
> I went with something terribly fluffy for the last day. I thought I'd wrap everything up with a silly little adventure where a separation and reunion happens but there is very little angst in either. 
> 
> Consequently I think this is the very first time I've managed all 7 stories for a week so *puts party hat on* that's an accomplishment! Thanks everyone who read thorough all of these and enjoyed them! It was a blast to come up with fics for Dick and Dami week.

It was embarrassing to admit that Damian had not expected this to ever happen to him. It was embarrassing that he had allowed it to happen. Not simply embarrassing, but mortifying. Mortifying, foolish, stupid, and something not befitting someone raised by the League of Assassins or a future heir to the Batman mantel.

The truth was. Damian was lost. Or rather, Damian had lost Grayson.

On its own, Damian decided, the statement was innocuous enough. If he closed his eyes and pretended he was on a rooftop with rain pelting down at him or thick viscous fog obscuring his vision. If he imagined a vast forest of vines and exotic plants grown almost overnight by Ivy he could say that this was not foolishness or embarrassing or mortifying. That came with the territory.

Damian sighed, and set the book he’d been leafing through back on the shelf and sucked in a deep breath, turning to look down the aisle. The aisle filled with overly large items. Comically large items. Who needed a teddy bear larger than a full grown man? Or a box of romance novels, most likely all containing the same plot with slight differences in names and eye colors?

This store was foolish.

It was far too large. That was the problem. Damian had told Grayson so from the start. Well. He had first questioned the validity of their trip, then he had stated the store’s faults. The huge aisles, the too bright lighting, the bulk product that forced someone to have more than they could ever hope to use.

Damian was Robin and he could not even lift some of the “bundles”. Not even the tallest man in the world could see over the top of the aisles, stacked high with huge boxes. It was stupid. He kicked his foot and turned back to the rack to face the traitorous book.

He glared at it, then picked it back up to turn in his hands again. It was a book on dinosaurs. The cover was smooth and matte, but felt nice under his palms. It featured a recently discovered complete skeleton, which had caught Damian’s eye and prompted the disastrous flip-through. He tucked the book under his arm and made for the far end of the aisle.

The end opened into a large open area filled with bins stacked high with boxes and tubs of various products. There were displays of evenly piled packages of water, electronics, and in one case, perfectly stacked cans of peas.

People milled everywhere. Baskets larger than batcow crossed this way and that, some full, some still in need of filling. Mother’s wrangled children, while father’s stopped at DVD display’s pulling off cases covered in raging monsters and laser beams.

Grayson was nowhere to be seen.

Damian pulled his phone from his pocket and attempted to call his brother. The line hesitated, giving a long terrible pause before attempting to ring. One. Two. Three rings, and then the call abruptly ended.

The phone’s display told him that his service was spotty at best in the store. One more reason to think the place foolish and terribly built.

Damian turned back to look at the aisle of books, games, and stuffed toys. Grayson had told him to wait in one place if he became lost or separated from him. Damian had scoffed at the instruction, as if he could lose Grayson of all people. Grayson who did not stop talking or attempting to get Damian to “try this sample” or “look at this hat, how cute would you look in it?”

He squared his shoulders. Grayson could not have gotten that far. Besides, he knew the man’s next location, or the item he would next be searching for. Grayson had made sure Damian memorized their list of needed items so he could remind him of anything forgotten.

Protein powder was next. After gauging the contents of the aisles on the far too high signs (really, how was anyone expected to read those?), Damian turned left and began winding his way through men, women, and families in search of his brother.

Damian was jostled, pushed, and almost trampled. He got turned around after one child blew past him like Wallace late to dinner. The child sent him turning, spinning, until he’d lost where 53 was supposed to be.

If only Grayson had not insisted on coming here. If only Damian had not allowed himself to be lured by the promise of Cheese Viking and fried yams.

Someone grabbed Damian’s arm, their grip soft but startling. He spun on the person, having to take one, then two, mental beats so he did not jab the person in their solar plexus and make a run for it.

“Hey sweetheart, where is your parent?”

Damian tugged at his arm but the woman, cheery cheeked and almost glowing with motherly worry did not release her grip.

“I am here with my brother.” Damian said, his tone imperious as he straightened, “And if you do not release me I will lose him, and be trapped in this maze forever.”

This startled the woman, who let go of his arm and stepped back, “I really doubt you’ll be trapped here.” she said, finding her smile again, “Why don’t I help you find your brother?”

Damian’s eyes narrowed at her. Was this a trap? Did this woman recognize him and have intentions of kidnapping him for ransom? Was there a more sinister lilt to her tone?

The voice in his head that sounded just a little bit like Grayson told Damian he was being silly. The voice that sounded like Mother said he was not being suspicious enough. Damian decided for a middle ground.

“Thank you for your offer, however I can find him on my own. We separated simply so I could retrieve,” he paused for half a second before swiping a comically large bag of sour cream and onion chips from the shelf display, “this and this book.” he angled his chin towards the book under his other arm, “My brother is waiting for me and I really do need to get back to him.”

He took a step back, and when the woman did not attempt to reach for him again, assumed he was in the clear.

“Alright, well hurry back. You never know who might be wandering around here. Stores are dangerous places for children to wander alone.” she said, waving him off.

Damian bit back a rebuke for her calling him a child, choosing to take the win. He spun on his heel and moved swiftly in the opposite direction from her, ducking down the first aisle that was not overly populated with people.

He glanced behind him to make sure the woman had not followed him. Her words on not knowing who might stalk a store still ringing in his head. Had they been a warning? An indication she was one of those people? Had his silly instincts been correct?

A sigh released itself from his chest, long and exhausted. This was ridiculous.

So much time had been wasted at this point that Damian was certain Grayson had moved on from the protein powder to searching out the next item: frozen snacks for patrol.

Damian moved down the aisle to the opposite end (the better to get away from that woman) and passed the protein powder. Grayson was obviously not here, but Damian had hope that he was close.

He hurried, almost running the last few steps to burst out into another busy walkway filled with people. Damian looked from face to face, buggy to buggy, and thought he spotted messy dark hair in the crowd.

He pushed and shoved his way in that direction, darting once between a woman’s arm and her buggy to reach the hair.

The figure was clothed in a blue shirt, like Grayson’s and Damian sprinted to get around the man, only to find it was not his brother, but a very confused look alike.

Damian scowled at him, “Useless.” he grumbled.

“Excuse me?” the man blinked.

“Point me in the direction of the frozen foods, Gothamite.” Damian said.

When the man did not respond Damian stamped his foot, “Which direction?” he asked again, impatience lancing his tone.

The man pointed, and Damian moved to rush past him, tossing out a hurried, “Your assistance is appreciated.”

Behind him he heard a distantly growing, “But I’m not... I’m from Star City.”

The building could only be called labyrinthine. The way things twisted and turned. It boggled Damian how one could be on his way to frozen goods and then suddenly find himself by peaches, towering taller than the tree they’d been plucked from, winded and angry.

He was grumpy. Frustrated. And generally irritated with the store. He was contemplating buying and dismantling the entire chain. Or at least implementing some kind of mapping system.

“Attention Costco customers!” a bright, bubbly voice crackled overhead.

Damian’s heart picked up at the announcement. Perhaps Grayson had decided to search for him, and was utilizing the store’s speakers.

“It’s that time again! All our fried, roasted, and grilled chicken is on sale. Come down to the deli for five dollar chicken. That’s right eight pieces for five dollars, mix and match or choose your favorite style! Five dollar chicken. Stop by our deli and get yours today!”

The urge to throw his book upwards at the speaker was intense. The only thing that kept Damian from doing it was the fact that the stupid device was so high up he had no chance of hitting it. Jon could manage it, but Damian could not. He no longer had powers after all.

His chest stung a little that the announcement had not been regarding him. Grayson had to have noticed his absence by now. He had either gotten lost himself, or perhaps the man had found his way back to the books Damian had stopped by, if he had realized that was where their separation happened.

To squelch the disappointment Damian moved from the peaches to the strawberries, their sweet bright scent luring him like one of those cartoon children to pie on a window. His stomach grumbled at him.

He examined the plastic containers of strawberries, finding one that seemed to contain mostly ripe, beautifully red berries. He shifted his book to the arm holding the chips (still in hand in case the woman were to appear again) and opened the package taking out a strawberry to munch on.

The container was added to his already over loaded arm, balanced between book and chips. The berry was sweet, and refreshing after all of Damian’s searching. He finished it, leaves and all.

His best course of action was to either find his way to the front of the store to make use of the intercom system or back to the books where he’d become lost in the first place.

It was easy to assume one could retrace their steps in the store with little trouble. Then again, it had been easy to assume Damian would not become lost in the store either. He was all to quickly turned around again, grumbling with frustration as he now found himself in electronics.  
  
Televisions sang with music, and flashed bright with colors designed to convince customers that one particular screen was better than another. Laptops and tablets where lit with games and apps, children shoving each other to be the next one to play while parents spoke with employees.

There were bins and bins of DVDs and CDs, and even for video games. Damian wandered up and down aisles until he reached one similar to where he had been lost, lined with strategy guides and large headed figures of popular characters, and baskets of mystery boxes. Damian tutted at the boxes, who wished to waste money and effort on the chance they would not get the single toy they desired? Was it not better to make a purchase one would be certain about?

Grayson would like them. He’d buy up six and say “I’m sure I’ve got one of each character” then end up with six of the same.

Damian lifted one dedicated to the Smash Brothers game Grayson liked to play with the family. It seemed impossible to have every available character as an option to receive, but there were a great many listed on the back.  
  
He took a second box. He and Grayson could open them together when he found him.

In his momentary pause he ate two more strawberries from his container, snapping it closed when he got odd looks from a few kids wandering down the aisle.

It took forever, but eventually Damian found his way back to the books and too large stuffed animals. He was exhausted from the search, his feet starting to hurt as he’d wandered the overly hard floors.

Damian sat on the floor and leaned against one of the giant bears, setting the strawberries beside him. He would wait here. Hopefully Grayson would re-trace his path and find Damian. Or the speakers would crackle to life again and Damian would start the long trudge towards the front of the store.

He snuggled against the soft bear and worked his way through the strawberries, one by one as he played Tetris on his phone.

When the battery started to dip below 30% Damian pocketed it and opened the book he’d lugged around the store with him, starting on page one with the introduction.

It wasn’t that it was a boring book, it was that Damian was tired. Not that he would admit that to anyone else. Still, his eyes were heavy as he passed through chapter one, and eventually the book laid against his chest, and Damian rolled into the bear’s soft fur.

It was a little like laying against Titus, only there was no heartbeat or warmth pulsing under the fur. Just that of Damian’s own body heat seeping into the inanimate object.

Damian was woken as arms tugged him up and away from the bear. Grayson’s voice warm in his ear. “Here you are, Little Bird. Got bored waiting for me?”

“You took your time.” Damian mumbled, still groggy.

Grayson chuckled, “Would you believe I got lost? Though, from the look of all this stuff, I suspect you did too.”

“Tt. I assumed you to be slower than you were.”

“Is that right?” Grayson settled Damian in the large part of the cart (he was too big for the actual seat) and dropped the bear on top of him.

Damian shoved the fuzzy animal away and heard the crinkle of the chips and empty strawberry container as Grayson lifted those, and set them in the seat of the basket.

“I’m glad I got another batch of strawberries, if I’d trusted you to find them we’d have to go all the way back to produce.” Grayson teased.

The bear was finally shoved down into the basket and Damian glared at his brother, “If you had not left me so long there would have been some to share. I thought myself stranded, and did what I had to for survival.”

Grayson actually laughed at this, “And were these for survival too?” he shook the two mystery boxes.

“Tt. Of course. I had to stave off boredom somehow.”

The boxes were handed to Damian and Grayson made to push the cart away, forcing Damian to scramble up from his semi comfortable spot in the basket, to peer over the edge, “Do not forget my book.” he pointed, “It is the reason we are in this mess anyway.”

His brother knelt down and lifted the half open book from the ground, dusting the pages where dirt had stuck to them, “Interesting, I think you need to tell me the story of what happened.”

He handed the book to Damian and grinned, “Let’s start with the dinos.”


End file.
